June: bought by our expat clients unseen circa $9m
July postscript: home viewed 1st time this week
Hi Mal
That went well! As you may imagine, we were a little anxious before we arrived. In the event, the property has exceeded our expectations in every way – there are no downsides. The scale of the rooms are all significantly larger than expected, and the flow through the property is lovely. We are fortunate to be the new owners.
25th July
Mal (JAMES BUY SELL) and Gina (GK BUY SELL)
Friends had recommended Mal and Gina to find us a new family house in Melbourne.
We were based in the UK and wanted to find our home before we made the big move.
We spent some time looking at properties together during an initial visit, so Mal and Gina had a good idea of our requirements. They also knew what additional features would make the difference between an adequate home and a dream home.
In the event, they did us proud.
We were given plenty of photos and videos and Mal and Gina were very accurate in their descriptions, including the good and (potentially) less-good features.
After we made the decision to bid, the process went very smoothly. Mal and Gina kept us updated and managed our anxiety. In the event, the purchase went well.
Then the day arrived when the family visited the house for the first time. It turned out to be a much better property than we had allowed ourselves to expect.
The whole family is very happy.
We would have no hesitation in recommending their services to others.
J&H
Footnote: The ethics of cleaning a home as you leave for the new buyers coming in.
By law, you do not have to clean your house for the new buyers; you have to present it in the same condition as when it was purchased.
But wow, how hard is it to clean, leave a bottle of champagne or chocolates, all the gadgets, and a welcoming note wishing the new owners the best?
Actually it’s not hard at all to be nice when leaving, and R, the seller of the home mentioned above, was present at the inspection after asking if that is what our clients wanted. R also had the place immaculate in presentation and wonderfully warm on a cold day.
Our clients loved it and had a long and equally warm conversation with R.
Thank you R, you are a very classy lady and what you did was most appreciated.
Mal James
Buy Sell Agent
0408 107 988
mal@james.net.au
Good morning, good afternoon, good evening. It’s simply good to be back working again, buying and selling after an all-too-short winter break.
I know it’s winter because at Elwood most weekday mornings around 5:50 AM, my goolies disappear in fear as the Port Phillip water shrills through me upon entry. They return only after coffee at House of Bread in Martin Street an hour later. It’s cold!
Our past 2023/24 financial year reveals valuable lessons. Despite relationship ups and downs and the challenges of completing a full-time face-to-face Master’s program at RMIT, over $140 million in buy/sell deals, in a difficult market.
The learning is that success isn’t solely market-dependent; good processes, continuous learning/adaptability, and teamwork (with other agents and your clients) are crucial.
As our new Top End Spring season begins, focusing on strategies that work for both buyers and sellers is key: if your success is an actual transaction plus happiness.
Below may be some contrarian views but it’s what I know works in this current market.
Price is a Sandwich
Consider the price you pay or are paid for a home as a sandwich:
Understanding this ‘price sandwich’ helps clarify that when things are down you get mostly zero from the market and therefore your upside depends on the quality of the transaction’s execution and what you are buying or selling.
Bottom Layer (Market Conditions): For buyers, it’s the foundation—like a soft, spongy sourdough, plenty of stock and opportunity. Currently, for sellers, it might be less appealing, akin to stale supermarket white bread with more goodness in the wrapper than the contents. It can present as a premium from -10% to +10% of your price. On $5,000,000 that’s a range of $1,000,000.
Middle Filling (Property Features): This is the core of your property’s value, the PPP’s (position, property, price) and is approximately 80% of your price (give or take). On $10 million your home is at least $8 million on its fundamentals.
Top Layer (Transaction Factors): Comprising, amongst other things, the agent’s expertise, sales, and pricing strategies, and the element of luck—all similar to the icing on a cake, and is also about -10% to +10% on your price. $600,000 range on $3 million.
Buy and sell a $10 million home to a $5 million one or vice-versa and the range between good and bad, outside the fundamentals, could be $3 million in the bank.
This brings me to 3 other contrarian concepts that can help you in this market.
By embracing diversity of thought you and your clients get choice. You get mainstream thinking which can be the right way forward but also if you remain on the periphery of mainstream thinking, as a contrarian, you can capitalise on undervalued assets as a buyer and make informed choices on strategy to maximise your price as a seller.
Contrarians? We are Top End buyer agents first and foremost – our last 4 – Male in Brighton, Alma in Camberwell, Fairview in Glen Iris, and Maleela in Balwyn totalled over $30 million at an average of $7.5 million. However, our self-reinventions include a decade of selling advocacy/agency as well, which we feel has helped us and our buying, selling, and buy/selling clients.
1. There is no "i" in team, and rarely team in real estate
Real estate can be one of the most negative, soul-destroying, and stressful professions for participants (agents, buyers, and sellers). Why? Because many adopt a “screw you” mentality from fear, from their surrounding environment and occasionally from their DNA. This attitude isn’t just limited to agents; it includes buyers who lack manners and fail to hire professionals to assist them in a complex game, and sellers who demand the best, most motivated team but then treat that team poorly and manage them inconsistently.
For me personally I love my job, so how and why can we counter this no team aspect?
Why? Client Happiness. We had a great year in a down market, and “my” commissions were over $2 million. Does that put me in the top few agents? I really don’t care but to prove the point on collaboration – all the jobs did involve sharing fees (openly and in writing and never on opposite sides of the transaction) – in fact, 50% ($1 million) went to other agents who found the buyers, and found the off-markets because they were encouraged to do so AND believed they would be paid and then after that my EA, rent, market news, etc.
How? View every transaction as a fresh start and every agent as a potential partner until proven otherwise. Success in real estate at James Buy Sell almost always involves collaboration.
Good intentions, communication, and relationships are crucial; contempt and isolation lead to nothing. By fostering good experiences and mutual benefits, many agents can work together to solve problems, which in turn builds the pie for all buyers and sellers.
So much wasted energy goes into hate and secrets and blocking and … negative sh…t
If it is possible to treat other agents as teammates (and sometimes it is not), then in the long term big picture, everyone benefits, and the team (which includes your clients) wins together. Yes, I believe self-interest gets the agent and the client the best deal when that self-interest is mutual and multiple.
2. Branding: Important but Overrated in Wrong Areas
I wear a hat, I love my suit, and I believe manners are essential, so my branding is something I consider. However, branding is often overrated, especially for agencies. Interestingly, the weakest mark I received in my Masters at RMIT was in Brand Strategy, so maybe what I am saying here is unconventional, or I don’t get it.
Your price and deal are about the individual agent way more than the agency.
Would you sell a $10 million home with Ray White in Toorak? Almost every seller says no. Would you sell a $10 million home with Ray White in Double Bay? Many sellers say yes. It’s not an agency brand that is universal —yes, an established agency works, but a great agent at an unknown brand is more important to your deal in this market, than a poor agent at a known brand.
Focus on the branding that truly matters: the home’s PPPs—Position, Property, and Price. A great agent will present the home’s PPPs as A-Grade to the right buyer, while a poor agent will present the same house as far less than A-Grade.
An A-Grade is 3Ps, not 2Ps and a poor Price! Overpriced with a good position and good property is, by our definition, a B-Grader.
However, “A” is opinion, and good agents influence opinion.
Consider brands like Kay and Burton, RT Edgar, Belle, Marshall White, and Jellis Craig. What do they really convey about your home? By my logic and science, they say nothing significant that would differentiate your home between any of them. I accept there are strong differing opinions.
My real point is that an agent under any of those great brands above, including Ray White, who knows the land size, can justify the price, and follows up with buyers; brands your property very differently from one who does the opposite (as some do).
Good branding yes, but the agency is not the top priority in buying and selling a home—it’s the agent.
Assuming your home is an A-Grader that will sell itself works. No, if priced incorrectly.
And no, it won’t work no matter how strong your other branding is.
Why? Because price has become the most powerful branding tool above all else, and it’s powerfully negative.
As well, poor presentation will not miraculously go unnoticed – it affects your home brand, even if you think you are trying to just sell (cheap). It’s negative branding!
- your agent,
- your own clarity of mindset,
- your home’s PPPs.
James Buy Sell process reflects proof of this belief, as you will see me working under various agencies’ brands as a conjunctional agent while managing home sales, more so than James Buy Sell everywhere. Granted no point in being shy is there?
Some quick branding tips:
- Get a mindset that says results beat fluff and promises 10 to 1.
- Get an agent who can bring a buyer to your home and offer well, who wouldn’t have gotten there by any other means. Your advertising then becomes a second line of attraction, not the only line.
- Get an agent who can get the price with one buyer or price your home to get multiple buyers, but don’t get an agent to price to get multiple buyers and end up with one.
- Present your home in a way that makes you not want to leave. In this market, you are spending to get one buyer, and the rest are bonuses. Bidderman is sub 1 in places.
- When buying, be professional in your branding. Manners, feedback, and persistence with agents will get you more access than branding yourself as a tyre-kicker or liar.
Footnote: Think of the branding on your home if you put Donald Trump on as your agent vs say Ash Barty representing you. It matters!
3. It's Not Quantity. It's a Quantity of Good Quality
Phone Calls and BS Scripts and Dialogues and Fees:
- To be a good agent, the conventional wisdom is that you need to make 80 calls a day. That’s not my style—I’m lucky if I make 10, and some days it’s only 5. Contacts are about the right connections with some thinking, and if your agent sounds like an AI script from Amazon, you’ll get equivalent feedback.
Footnote: I don’t buy or sell a $10 million home because I put on a power tie and most will tell you I lack charm. I buy or sell such a home because I’m up for the fight! I swim in the bay for resilience. Whilst I talk a lot about collaboration, it’s not like it’s all kumbaya out there – you have to hold your position with strength, not acquiesce and move on to the next deal.
I don’t look for agents focused on winning the turnover game. You might become the number one salesperson but not on client satisfaction. Of course, selling 3 a year because you’re acting like a monk will not generally get great results either.
I look for agents with balance when selling and hopefully I get unbalanced when buying.
- The notion that a great agent must have slick lines and always be closing doesn’t work for me (it may work for others). While I could always improve, I prioritise listening first. I try to speak honestly (succinctly I’m still working on).
My focus is on how I can genuinely help the person in front of me, whether or not it results in a deal. I know many will find this hard to believe, but we have bought many properties where we found significant faults and said so—clients were then happy to proceed on a fully informed basis.
Yes, you need a good process and be a closer. But you don’t have to be a dick!
- I love earning money, but it’s a by-product of helping others. I don’t focus on budgets, work to targets (other than individual client goals), or review my monthly metrics. On top of that, I love my kids, have travelled to 30 countries with them, and attended almost every footy, netball, soccer practice, and game they had. Yeah, perhaps a note of arrogance, but this is to young agents – you can have your cake and eat it too without being a moron (jury is out for me). Follow good processes and work hard, but not all of your time.
- Also, be yourself (I’m weird, and I still get plenty of work) and finally, be ethical (do unto others as you would want to be done to you or your family), for it pays in the long run in terms of client and job satisfaction, mental health, and better income.
- “To be a great agent, you need to be able to compromise on fees—you need to go as low as you can to get the job—it’s all about turnover.”
I disagree with this approach. While I understand my clients do not want to pay top dollar for mediocre service, my fee structure is not about quick turnover. Instead, it’s about giving me the time to fully attend to what they want and need and then, if I do, fully rewarding those I collaborated with—the client judges that.
Some of my jobs take a year… because that is best for my client.
For many years now, we have had a strict “no dickhead” policy at James Buy Sell.
Taking on clients who are difficult from a fees point of view, maintenance point of view, or expectations point of view is not only challenging to your mental health and hourly rate, but it is also unfair to your good clients.
Agents who work for difficult clients have little time and mental capacity to work for clients who are fair and reasonable. Therefore, if you are caught up in frequent conflicts with a few, you are being unethical to your many, as they are not getting what they expect and what you promised.
They are being ripped off because you are knowingly taking on or keeping difficult clients.
No worries if things don’t go as planned and no worries if people need more work than expected (it’s swings and roundabouts), but if you are a busy agent and you get greedy by taking on poor clients, you are being unethical.
I say this knowing some of my jobs will take a year. It’s not simply time-based, it’s the overall package. Work for good clients only and move on from ones that are not.
I do this, and it has worked for me and my clients for 25 years. This is a contrarian view in real estate, and it’s about quality, not quantity. It’s about giving more to good clients and less to bad ones, not the reverse.
In this market, a free mind is worth $, for there are many opportunities to improve your buying and selling position when the bottom slice of the sandwich (the market) is dead – if you have a good buying or selling agent who has free mind space.
Hopefully, some food for contrarian thought to make your Spring and Xmas markets winners for you and those you deal with, be you an agent, buyer, seller or a buy/seller.
DRY JULY? NOT HERE at SHELTER BRIGHTON!
SUB SAHARA's 1st CHILDRENS HOSPITAL?
